MARK STEWART insists his loan move from Bradford to Hamilton Accies has put a smile back on his face.

The 23-year-old went south from Falkirk last summer only to be hit by injury before falling out of favour due to a change of manager at Valley Parade.

Such was the striker’s torment at being left out of the side he spent his Saturday nights sounding off at his flatmate who was in the same boat.

Stewart said: “I wasn’t getting involved enough at Bradford and it was frustrating.

“I would come back from games where I wasn’t stripped and I had nobody to moan to. The only guy I could have a go at was my mate, Chris Mitchell, who came down from Falkirk too and is in a similar situation. We were like two grumpy old men.

“I was involved in every game until the manager who signed me resigned last September and the new guy came in with his own ideas. It was getting to the stage I wasn’t even getting stripped.

“But I got back into the team for a few games, which we won, then I broke my toe which saw me miss another two months.

“I agreed at Christmas with the manager that it was better for me to get away and play a few games and Hamilton came in for me.

“I want to get back to England next season and prove people wrong as every young Scottish player wants to trying playing in England.

“I could have just stayed at Bradford, picked up my wages and done nothing but that’s not my style.

“It came to a head a few weeks ago when the manager told me I wasn’t travelling with the squad to an away game. He also told me Hamilton had been on the phone and asked me if I fancied it and I jumped at it.

“It’s a mystery to me why I wasn’t involved more as I was doing well. I had just played three reserve games and scored three goals but it wasn’t enough.

“But I won’t give in. I’ll go back to Bradford in the summer and do what I can but I’m never going to be happy just being at a club and picking up my wages.”

Stewart will be reunited with some familiar faces today when he goes up against old club Falkirk and believes he faces a battle to be involved from the start.

He said: “I need to work hard to stay in the team but I made a contribution coming off the bench last Saturday in a great draw at Dundee.

“We didn’t do so well against Morton on Tuesday night but we have a good team and the training here is fantastic.

“I showed what I was capable of at Falkirk last season when I got a regular game.

“I definitely have unfinished business down south. The fans were great with me and used to sing my name even though I hadn’t played for two months.

“I don’t think the Falkirk fans will be singing my name but it’ll be great to see some old faces.

“My job now is to help Hamilton and there’s no reason why we can’t get a couple of wins to lift us up the table.”

Falkirk’s Scottish Cup dream may have ended but boss Steven Pressley says no one at the club is feeling sorry for themselves.

The Bairns boss says the ideal way to shrug off Wednesday’s 2-1 exit to Ayr United at Somerset Park is to keep their title bid on track by beating Hamilton.

While frustrated to lose out on a cup quarter-final at home to Hibs, Pressley didn’t point the finger at his players as he feels they have been exceptional this season, pushing Ross County for the title while also reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup before being toppled by Celtic.

He said: “We were disappointed by the Ayr defeat but when I look at the game itself there were a lot of positives.

“Our first-half performance was right up there with the standards we have set. It was just unfortunate we couldn’t keep it up for 90 minutes.

“But the players have been exceptional this season and while this was a setback it can also propel us forward.

“We had a good result at Hamilton earlier in the season and that came on the back of a defeat. This time around I think they are an improved side so it will be a real good test.

“Any team that comes down from the SPL has a transitional period. But Billy Reid must be pleased that over the past few months he’ll have seen progress from his team. In that respect the signs for him are good.

“We experienced the same situation last year after being relegated. The transition is a difficult period and you have to learn to adapt.”